Country Name: Mauritius (Republic of Mauritius)

Capital: Port Louis

Government Type: parliamentary republic

Background: Although known to Arab and European sailors since at least the early 1500s, the island of Mauritius was uninhabited until 1638 when the Dutch established a settlement named in honor of Prince Maurits van NASSAU. Their presence led to the rapid disappearance of the flightless dodo bird that has since become one of the most well-known examples of extinction in modern times. The Dutch abandoned their financially distressed settlement in 1710, although a number of formerly enslaved people remained. In 1722, the French established what would become a highly profitable settlement focused on sugar cane plantations that were reliant on the labor of enslaved people brought to Mauritius from other parts of Africa. In the 1790s, the island had a brief period of autonomous rule when plantation owners rejected French control because of laws ending slavery that were temporarily in effect during the French Revolution. Britain captured the Island in 1810 as part of the Napoleonic Wars but kept most of the French administrative structure, which remains to this day in the form of the country’s legal codes and widespread use of the French Creole language. The abolition of slavery in 1835 - later than most other British colonies - led to increased reliance on contracted laborers from the Indian subcontinent to work on plantations. Today their descendants form the majority of the population. Mauritius remained a strategically important British naval base, and later an air station, playing a role during World War II for anti-submarine and convoy operations, as well as for the collection of signals intelligence.

Mauritius gained independence from the UK in 1968 as a Parliamentary Republic and has remained a stable democracy with regular free elections and a positive human rights record. The country also attracted considerable foreign investment and now has one of Africa's highest per capita incomes.

Region: Africa

Population: 1,309,448 (2023 est.)

Ethnic Groups: Indo-Mauritian (compose approximately two thirds of the total population), Creole, Sino-Mauritian, Franco-Mauritian

• note: Mauritius has not had a question on ethnicity on its national census since 1972

Languages: Creole 86.5%, Bhojpuri 5.3%, French 4.1%, two languages 1.4%, other 2.6% (includes English, one of the two official languages of the National Assembly, which is spoken by less than 1% of the population), unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.)

Religions: Hindu 48.5%, Roman Catholic 26.3%, Muslim 17.3%, other Christian 6.4%, other 0.6%, none 0.7%, unspecified 0.1% (2011 est.)

Economic Overview: upper middle-income Indian Ocean island economy; diversified portfolio; investing in maritime security; strong tourism sector decimated by COVID-19; expanding in information and financial services; environmentally fragile

Currency: Mauritian Rupee (MUR)

Reserves of Foreign Exchange & Gold: $7.793 billion (2022 est.) note: holdings of gold (year-end prices)/foreign exchange/special drawing rights in current dollars

Real GDP (Purchasing Power Parity): $28.838 billion (2022 est.) note: data in 2017 dollars

Real GDP Growth Rate: 8.88% (2022 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

Real GDP per Capita: $22,800 (2022 est.) note: data in 2017 dollars

Exports: 

• $5.005 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars

• Comparison Ranking: 137

Export Commodities: clothing and apparel, skipjack and tuna, raw sugar, fertilizers, diamonds (2021)

Export Partners: France 10%, South Africa 10%, United States 10%, United Kingdom 8%, Zambia 7%, Madagascar 6% (2019)

Imports: 

• $8.037 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars

• Comparison Ranking: 129

Import Commodities: refined petroleum, cars, fish products, aircraft, packaged medicines (2019)

Import Partners: China 15%, India 13%, France 10%, South Africa 8%, United Arab Emirates 7% (2019)

Natural Resources: arable land, fish

Agricultural Products: sugar cane, poultry, pumpkins, gourds, potatoes, eggs, tomatoes, pineapples, bananas, fruit

Industries: food processing (largely sugar milling), textiles, clothing, mining, chemicals, metal products, transport equipment, nonelectrical machinery, tourism

Industrial Production Growth Rate: 

• 6.74% (2022 est.) note: annual % change in industrial value added based on constant local currency

• Comparison Ranking: 43

Labor Force: 583,000 (2022 est.)

Unemployment Rate: 6.32% (2022 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment

Natural Hazards: Geography:

• Total: 2,040 sq km

• Land: 2,030 sq km

• Water: 10 sq km

(Country Summary, The World Factbook, CIA.gov)

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